It may be old and it may be simple, but Notepad remains a firm favorite for many Windows users, particularly when it comes to coding. And while Microsoft has taken steps to improve the app with the addition of tabs, there are better options out there — such as Notepad++.
With the release of Notepad++ 8.5, there is an important update that that will make life much easier for Windows 11 users: a context menu entry.
The latest version of the text editor adds a new Edit with Notepad++ option to the right-click menu in Windows 11. The option was available previously, but it was buried a level down under the Show more options submenu. It’s a small but significant change that helps to improve workflow.
But while the arrival of context menu support is perhaps the most noteworthy change in Notepad++ 8.5, it is far from being the only thing that is new in this release. The full changelog of bug fixes and new features is as follows:
- Fix notepad replacement opening file name containing white space regression. (Fix #13032)
- Fix regression about visual glitch of Find in Files progress window & Document Switcher.(Fix #13185, #13053)
- Update to Scintilla 5.3.3 and Lexilla 5.2.2. (Implement #13082)
- Add new explorer context menu entry “Edit with Notepad++” for WINDOWS 11. (Fix #10320, #10565, #4368, #8786, #10640, #10856, #10653, #7747, #6169, #92)
- Add show non-printable characters command. (Fix #827, #4731, #8284)
- Apply tab colors to document list items, and add groups to document list. (Fix #12155, #12689, #13026)
- Add middle mouse click ability to close doc in Document List. (Fix #12949)
- Add Begin/End Select in Column Mode command. (Fix #12833, #12832)
- Add option to make auto-completion list brief. (Fix #12783)
- Remove duplicate items in function/word list of Auto-completion. (Fix #13061)
- Fix missing items in word autocomplete. (Fix #13060)
- Fix autocomplete to sort case insensitive issue. (Fix #12495)
- Change behaviour: make Select and Find (Next/Previous) always in normal search mode. (Fix #3229)
- Change behaviour: make volatile Find uses least-strict option settings. (Fix #13145)
- Change behaviour: Don’t populate in Find what if a stream selection more than 1024 characters. (Fix #12603)
- Fix wrong value set in Preferences->Performance->“Define Large File Size”.(Fix #13280)
- Fix untitled document number jumping or repeated problem. (Fix #8677, #11704, #13194)
- Fix dock-able panels not restoring for mono instances when Notepad++ is in the tray. (Fix #9454)
- Fix panels not restored from systemtray with “Edit with Notepad++” in admin mode. (Fix #13041)
- Fix hit text in search results not being scrolled in the view issue. (Fix #13129)
- Add new notification NPPN_EXTERNALLEXERBUFFER for lexer plugin with buffer ID when a new lexer is applied to the buffer in question. (Fix #12351)
- Fix Synch H/V Scrolling commands not sync with 2 views. (Fix #5250, #13071)
- Add several GUI enhancement. (Fix #11695, #13176, #13187, #13162)
- Make several GUI items translatable. (Fix #13175, #8020, #8858, #13088, #8927, #10876, #9343, #8004)
Notepad++ 8.5 is available to download here.
